For Maribel Cruz-Brown, authentic community interaction is essential to practicing diversity, equity and inclusion in underserved communities.-By Sharon Ross

As Vice President of Economic Development and Key Account Management for the New York Power Authority (NYPA), Cruz’s primary duties focus on maximizing customer service, promoting clean energy technologies, maintaining long-term economic development program effectiveness, and strengthening New York’s clean energy economy. Since being promoted to her current position in May 2022, she has been responsible for customer segments throughout New York including overseeing touchpoints with over 1,400 power supply and energy efficiency clients and 15,000 accounts with annual sales totaling more than $2.2 billion.

As part of her role, Cruz oversees NYPA’s three main economic development programs which provide energy to non-retail businesses, manufacturers and not-for-profits. NYPA’s ReCharge New York program, its Western New York Hydropower program, and its Preservation Power program analyze the energy usage of eligible clients and award them low-cost hydropower in exchange for associated job and capital investment commitments. “If NYPA can help support New York companies with price certainty for their electric bills, then they can focus on their primary goal of operations and expand their workforce,” says Cruz. “That in turn brings a tremendous benefit to New York by ensuring that they are contributing to a thriving New York economy, which directly provides opportunity to residents of New York.”

Implementing these programs also supports the growth of Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses (SDVOBs), which aligns with NYPA’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals. Cruz says that when NYPA provides clean, low-cost energy to MWBEs, SDVOBs and underserved communities, “it’s one way to proactively bring social justice, environmental justice and equity to companies and communities by increasing economic margin for hiring, benefits and community engagement.”

Additionally, Cruz works with other NYPA business partners and NYPA’s supplier diversity team to recruit an array of MWBEs, SDVOBs and other diverse businesses to serve as part of NYPA’s supply chain that helps deliver services across the state such as the Customer Project Delivery team, NYPA Ventures, and Product Development.

Cruz began her 22-year career at NYPA working in positions where she served energy customers across NYC and Westchester but especially in the Bronx, N.Y.—the same community she grew up. As an energy efficiency program manager, she met directly with school officials, New York City government customers and local businesses in different communities to see first-hand what their energy needs were. This close community interaction gave her greater insight into the energy challenges that businesses, users of those facilities, and diverse communities were facing.

Improving lighting conditions, building performance and increasing energy savings became a comprehensive passion for Cruz. From auditing municipal facilities to designing solutions in partnership with NYPA’s customers and vendors, a set of creative and community-specific solutions were developed. Ultimately, she developed her own client and community-specific approach that grew from project focus to portfolio strategic management that has helped imbed DEI best-practices in the Power Authority’s energy solutions. Cruz is making this approach standard within her department.

“My team is out there not only meeting with customers, but also understanding their long-term strategic goals and priorities including energy, community and climate related,” she says. “As we present at local municipal board meetings or attend governmental customers’ long-term planning sessions, we continue to involve representatives from the communities that they live in through our supplier diversity programs. We’re advocates for local suppliers. As businesses in the communities we serve, they are in an excellent position to offer our customers creative and impactful solutions.”

Cruz’s experience and perceptive engagement with customers has served her, NYPA and the state well. A recent example of NYPA’s value came when Micron Technology Inc., one of the country's largest semiconductor manufacturers, recently agreed to a $100 billion economic development project as it sought NYPA’s hydropower, bringing more than 9,000 jobs to New York State. Cruz, a certified Energy Manager and Energy Auditor, says NYPA’s cost competitive hydropower from its Niagara and St. Lawrence power plants allow the Authority to meet increasing customer demand, retain the businesses it currently serves, and attract new businesses to New York State. Under her leadership, Cruz says her goal is for NYPA “to continue to find solutions, advocate for and guide our unique customer segments during this exciting energy transition including decarbonizing buildings and transportation to assist customers, and New Yorkers, so our communities can remain vibrant as we also maintain our role in providing sustainable clean energy for the State.” Prior to joining NYPA, Cruz supervised the installation and repair of residential and commercial electrical service at Con Edison. She also spent several years working for Stewart Stamping Inc., an international manufacturing supplier of metal components and assemblies. She received her BS in Mechanical Engineering from Manhattan College.

The Pace University MBA graduate credits her career growth to her willingness to speak up and raise her hand for opportunities. She advises any professional who seeks to gain leadership positions to use their voice, education and training they have obtained, and to “show up, even if they are not comfortable with the environment they are in.” This was a message she carried as co-chair of NYPA’s Employee Resource Group, Women in Power, where she developed a “Day in the Life Of…” teaching series which served as a developmental exercise for presenters and learning opportunity for attendees.

“The first step is to raise your hand to let people know you are there and interested in advancing,” says Cruz. “With so much happening at a quicker pace, hybrid work and a dynamic workplace, leaders may not know that you are interested in taking on another opportunity or working on a special project. You never know when someone might say ‘Yes’ to you and thank you for stepping up.” Cruz shares these ideals with many of the 30 diverse team members she manages. “Coaching and mentoring are incredibly important to me and are at the core of my career satisfaction,” she says. She believes transparency and clear communication are key to her management success.

“I tell people what I’m thinking and what I’m expecting,” says Cruz. “Then, I let them interpret what I say and deliver within their strengths, coaching along the way according to their needs. I enjoy empowering team members to be creative and add elements from their environment to their solutions”. “We engage in so many cross-collaborative efforts with other teams, clear communication is critical to alignment and efficiency.” If her current achievements are an indication of the future, Cruz and her team will be delivering for NYPA for a very long time.

“I would like to continue to work with stakeholders, especially NYPA’s Environmental Justice team, to tie all the value chains together,” says Cruz. “I would like to help build up a pipeline of workers for all the businesses that we are trying to attract to New York State by using our state’s workforce planning programs, NYPA’s P-TECH program and collaborations with colleges and universities. For our municipal and cooperative systems along with our governmental customers, I would like to be their trusted resource and partner in achieving their clean energy and sustainability goals, for many years to come. And I would like to make sure that my colleagues see me as an asset as well as help them understand how their goals regarding energy generation, transmission, sustainability and environmental justice impact the customers we serve.”

When Maribel is not traveling across the state, she is cheering on her two boys, a junior and senior in high school, along with her husband, Insurance Agent/CEO residing in Yonkers, NY. She is instilling the same values in her boys to care about their communities, contribute solutions and to be the best version of themselves.